In 2018 we visited the Philippines for our honeymoon and fell in love with the country. From a tourist perspective, as a gay couple in the Philippines we had no problems at all. However, we are always interested to learn about what it is like to be LGBT in a country from a local perspective and not through a rose tinted tourist lens.

This is why we got in contact with Brix, a Filipino local to learn more about what it is like to be gay in the Philippines. Check out his interview below!

Hi Brix, please introduce yourself to our readers.

Thank for the opportunity to share a bit of my life experience and insights on LGBTQ travel in the Philippines and my hometown. My name is Ruel Perez, my friends call me Brix. I may look young but I am 30 years old. I used to work in tourism & hospitality and trading in different parts of the world. After traveling around 30 countries I came back to my town, built a farmhouse and became a gardener. I am currently running for town Mayor to fight against corruption and raise awareness for LGBTQ rights in the Philippines.

Deciding on the perfect gay honeymoon destination when we got married in 2017 was difficult to say the least. You want to go somewhere beautiful, a once in a lifetime destination where you can openly be yourselves and enjoy the first few weeks of married life together.

The last thing that you want to experience on your gay honeymoon is any form of discrimination or prejudice, which is why it can be tricky to find that perfect place. Many of the stereotypical ‘go to’ honeymoon destinations such as the Maldives or Mauritius aren’t safe for gay couples. In these places same-sex activity is actually illegal, with severe consequences, and that’s not something you ever want to have to worry about, let alone on your honeymoon.

However, after lots of research we did find the perfect gay honeymoon destination for us: the Philippines!

It ticked every single box for us. Stunning beaches, perfect turquoise waters for scuba diving, lots of islands to explore, and a great mix of adventure and relaxation. Plus there are lots of romantic places in the Philippines making it perfect for honeymooners! Taking into account that the Philippines has been ranked as one of the most gay friendly places in Asia, we knew we were onto a winner.

We spent three weeks in the Philippines – one week on the island of Cebu (Mactan Island), one week in Palawan (El Nido) and one week in Boracay. Read on to learn everything you need to know. Fair warning – by the end you will want to book a flight right away!

The Philippines is a fascinating country. Consisting of over 7,000 islands, this is a part of the world that you can spend months exploring. However if you only have limited time and you’re wanting a bit of a beach holiday, then you are going to end up at queer Boracay.

Boracay is one of the best beaches in Asia, and when you are looking at beach holidays in the Philippines then Boracay is probably the easiest one to get to – normally about a one hour flight from the capital Manila. I was in Manila in June 2014 – spending time with my friends Silba and Deanna (and their young son Harvey).

Caticlan is the airport that services Boracay. Once you land at Caticlan you have to take a short bus trip and then a short ferry ride in order to get to Boracay.

We were staying at Jony’s Beach Resort – friendly and modern, just across the road from the beach. After a couple of margaritas looking out over the water, we strolled along the beach to find somewhere for dinner. The beach is full of bars and restaurants – it reminded me a little bit of Koh Samui in Thailand.

The Gay Philippines is the most gay-friendly country in Asia, whose gay community has developed its own culture. ‘Bakla’ means homosexual in the Filipino language, while gay people are often considered a 3rd gender.

The LGBT community of the Philippines enjoys the majority of the human rights, especially compared to other Asian countries. Same-sex marriage isn’t legal there yet unfortunately, but it has been discussed several times by the Congress.

In addition to the good living standards of the country’s gay community, Philippines is an excellent destination for gay vacations. You could take your friends or your other half. Gay families are also welcome. The resorts are capable of giving you a full experience of the destination featuring a wide diversity of activities that you can do with your family.

Keep reading to discover some of the most popular gay destinations in the Philippines, and see some of the best gay-friendly hotels and resorts!

The Philippines was a dream! We spent a month in this beautiful country in May/June 2015 and absolutely fell in love with it. The Philippines has some of the most incredible underwater life we’ve experienced, which makes scuba diving and snorkeling a dream. We particularly enjoyed snorkelling and kayaking around El Nido on Palawan Island.

Flower Island near El Nido was our romantic island escape with some amazing snorkelling. For a country made up of over 7,000 islands, it’s not difficult to find your own island romantic getaway.

Palawan island is also home to the Underground River near Puerto Princesa. It is said to be the longest navigable underground river in the world and was voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature by a global poll in 2012.

Our travels in the Philippines was an amazing experience. The country’s got it all: paradise like beaches, a variety of yummy traditional foods, but best of all, Filipinos!

The Pinoys (nickname for Filipinos around the world) are well known for their hospitality and friendliness. They are what made the country so special for us. As well as the warm hearted people we met, here’s our other 10 interesting facts about this incredible country:

#1 Your social media will explode!

After spending time with Filipinos, your social media following will just explode. The Filipinos are so enthusiastic about their Instagram and Facebook that they were ranked as THE highest selfie takers in the world by Time Magazine in early 2014.

We certainly thought so: the Philippines pretty much out-pink-ed all other countries in Asia from our point of view as foreigners. The Philippines is always up there in those popular polls ranking which are the most gay friendly countries in the world. At the same time, it’s a staunchly religious country with over 76 million of the world’s Catholics (the highest after Mexico and Brazil).

But regardless of the strongly held religious views, we found the Filipinos to be extremely warm hearted and friendly individuals and totally open minded to us as a gay couple. At no point did we ever feel we had to tread carefully about being gay, compared to our experiences in the Maldives or Sri Lanka.

That’s our point of view as tourists, but what’s it like from the inside? In Manila we met local boy and journalist Rione Palacios, who told us more about being gay in the Philippines and the Manila gay scene.

We found Palawan Island to be a popular romantic getaway for gay couples in the Philippines. It is surrounded by some of the most beautiful untouched beaches and islands, as well as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

This is our gay friendly travel guide to Palawan island following our visit there in June 2015.

#1 PUERTO PRINCESA AND THE UNDERGROUND RIVER

Puerto Princesa is predominantly used as a base for onward travel to El Nido as well as for tours to the Underground River, which was voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature by a global poll in 2012.

Puerto Princesa is a small town, making intercity transport between the town centre, airport and main bus station very convenient. There is a wide variety of good quality home-stays and guesthouses near the airport, which is very close to the town centre.

There are plenty of fun ways to celebrate your birthday on Boracay island in the Philippines.

Yes it’s very touristy, but venture away from the crowded area around Station 2 and there’s a bunch of fun things you can to do make your birthday truly special and memorable.

#1 BEACH BOAT PARTY TO CARUBAO ISLAND

If you like beach fun and partying, this is a great way to celebrate your birthday. Boracay Explorer offers an excellent boat trip to nearby isolated Carubao island where all food and drinks are provided throughout.

The Philippines is well known to be very gay friendly to tourists, particularly the popular island of Boragay Boracay. Boracay is one of the more touristy and frequented islands and as a result has a subtle gay scene, so we’ve put together our gay guide to Boracay following our travels there in May 2015.

Boracay has a variety of gay friendly accommodations for all budgets. You could spend as little as 300 pesos (#4 / $7) for a bed in a dormitory to as much as 20,000 pesos (#285 / $440) for a room in a luxury resort.

Filipinos are very relaxed and open-minded towards LGBT tourists so most places will be ok with you booking a double bed. The places we recommend below are 100% gay-friendly, so you can freely wave your rainbow flag at the door.